Tag Archives: leaky gut

Questions & Answers

Is The Paleo Diet Appropriate For Athletes?

What are the pros and cons of the paleo diet for athletes?

A couple of books about the paleo diet that I recommend are the Paleolithic Prescription and Native Nutrition.

The Paleo diet was introduced in the late sixties or early seventies by a Dr. Cordain out of a Colorado university. Dr. Cordain studies ancestral ways of eating and concluded that we should still be eating that way.

I’m not a huge fan of paleo diets. We’re not cave people who hunt and gather our food anymore. We have access to foods like nuts and seeds that hunter-gatherers never even dreamed of having.

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Pushing people into a diet that people ate thousands of years ago doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t think the Paleo diet is a good fit for the 21st century.

Nevertheless, there are definitely pros to following a Paleo diet. There are also cons, particularly for athletes. The carbohydrate issue is the big one because athletes need carbs for energy. Once you take out all the starchy vegetables from the diet, you’re left with leafy greens, eggs, meat, fish, chicken, nuts, and seeds.

For vegetarians, the Paleo diet is challenging because beans aren’t an option.

I think the Paleo diet is likely better for certain sports than others. For example, it seems better suited to weight lifting than track and field.

The Paleo diet can also be quite expensive. I also don’t think red meat is something to eat in significant amounts. There is ample evidence that Bacteroidetes bacteria are associated with colon cancer, and red meat encourages the growth of this bacterial strain.

I always tell people to back off the red meat. You’re better off eating free-range eggs, check, and fresh-caught fish.

The Paleo diet may have some blood sugar control benefits to offer people with diabetes. But if you’re a high functioning athlete, you need to be very careful about keeping your carb, protein, and fat ratios at an appropriate level.

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Questions & Answers

The Best Dietary Practices For Gut And Overall Health

The following are some healthy-gut tips that I have shared with my clients over the years.

1. Don’t follow a diet like the paleo, keto, or low-carb diet: I don’t generally recommend that you follow any particular kind of diet. You may look at my Candida Crusher book and think to yourself, “But, hang on a minute, he recommends the MEVY diet.” The MEVY diet refers to meat, eggs, vegetables, and yogurt. However, I never say that people should rigidly stick to the MEVY diet. I encourage modifying the diet to suit your purposes. I’m not the food police.

2. Use smaller plates: If you want to be lean and mean, try and eat smaller servings. Using a smaller plate can help you to adjust psychologically to eating less. And remember that the best exercise you can do is to push your plate away.

3. Focus on the quality of your food, not the quantity: Always be fussy about the quality of the food you’re eating. Even if the best option isn’t brilliant, you can still make the best food choices for the circumstances. Watch out for buffets because it’s easy to overeat, and the hygiene may be suspect. Quality is more and more important as you get older. 20-year-olds can get away with eating a quantity that wouldn’t be a right for a 60-year old.

4. Snack on yogurt: Yogurt can help build up the beneficial bacteria in your gut. It reduces inflammation and inhibits bacteria and yeast. Eating small amounts of yogurt has been shown to boost the immune system as well. Eat sour, Greek yogurt, perhaps with a few berries and some Manuka honey. Don’t opt for yogurt full of artificial sweeteners.

5. Add sprouts to your diet. Sprouts are a fantastic food full of enzymes that improve digestive function while cleaning up the stomach and small intestine. I try and eat sprouts every single day

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6. Try and match up a regular behavior with a healthy habit. For example, whenever my father went out for a drive, he would have an apple. You could try the same thing or design your own healthy association. It could mean having a drink of fresh, filtered water every time you go to the kitchen. Or maybe it would mean always throwing a piece of fruit into your bag when you’re out running errands.

7. Be picky when you go out for food. Don’t sit there and suffer in silence but there is no reason you can’t politely decline to eat food that is going to make your health suffer. Many people have told me that they don’t want to put someone out or embarrass, but I think it’s important to speak up in your own best interest.

8. Don’t eat well for five or six days a week and then have a massive “cheat day” full of fried chicken and soda pop. That’s not a great idea. If you are going to “cheat,” have something small. Small amounts of less-than-healthy food are acceptable. But remember the 80/20 rule, even 90/10 rule, 80 to 90% of what you eat should be very good. A small percentage can be not so good.

9. Not every sensation is hunger. If you feel that stomach growling sensation is most likely the motor reflex that occurs when your body is cleaning out the digestive tract, it’s not actually that your body needs food. It’s good for your gut not to be always peppered with food. It’s the key to keeping your weight down is by curbing and controlling the appetite.

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Questions & Answers

Diet, Cognition, And Mood: What’s The Connection?

Can what you eat make a difference to your thinking or your mood?

I think 2013 was when scientists started to look at the impact of the microbiome on cognition and mood. There are now many studies demonstrating that what you eat can highly influence how you think and feel.

Several parts of the brain are impacted by nutrition. The prefrontal cortex, the cortex, the amygdala, the hippocampus, and other areas of the brain will be affected. I’ve noticed this in patients for many years in my clinic.

I consider gut bacteria to make the difference between feeling good and feeling bad emotionally. I’ve noticed this in the clinic innumerable times. I’ve monitored patients using stool tests and documented a direct connection between the level of dysbiosis, yeast overgrowth, bacteria overgrowth, parasite infections, and how the patient feels.

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As the diet and gut improved and harmful microorganisms were reduced, my patients’ moods would pick up noticeably. Their jobs and relationships improved. Their cognitive symptoms disappeared.
I’ve concluded the nature of our gut flora is directly linked to the functioning of our brain. The quality of food that we eat has a direct impact on the microbial population in our GI tract. As a result, our diet can either leave us feeling terrible or leave us feeling sharp and energized.

Every time you eat something, remember the saying, “People dig their own graves with their teeth.” I read some alarming reports from the United States that most Americans eat less than a cup of fruit per day and less than two cups of vegetables per day. A diet like that will increase dysbiosis and gut imbalance, leading to cognitive dysfunction and mood disorders.

Is it any wonder that the world’s becoming a more depressing, anxious place to live?

Remember, the choice is yours. You decide what you put in your mouth every day. It’s your call. Decide how you want to feel and eat accordingly.

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Questions & Answers

Gerd: Why You Have It And What To Do About It

I have seen a vast number of clients with GERD over the years.

By the time people would come to see me, they were sick of taking proton pump inhibitors, but they were being driven crazy by the reflux.

Your stomach is like a cement mixer. You chew food; it goes down the esophagus, through the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and into the stomach. The LES is designed to stop food from going back up the esophagus.

Once the food is in the stomach, it is mixed up with gastric acid and digestive enzymes. The resulting substance is called chyme. Chyme consists of the results of mechanical and chemical breakdown of food, water, hydrochloric acid, and digestive enzymes. Chyme moves into the small intestine for further processing.

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It’s essential that the stomach thoroughly churn up the food and break it down using the digestive enzymes. However, many people eat quickly and without chewing their food enough.

If you eat small meals and take your time eating and chewing, your digestion will be much more efficient. You’ll also be satisfied more readily.

There are common causes of GERD that can explain about 90% of cases.

Firstly, overeating food can contribute to GERD. It’s a particular problem if you eat a big meal and then lie on your back. Eating too quickly and eating the wrong kinds of food also increases the risk of GERD. Spicy, fatty foods and alcohol can all increase GERD as can smoking. So can garlic, onion, and tomatoes.

It’s easy to eat too much if you are sitting in front of an 80-inch television.

Another factor associated with GERD is being overweight. Abdominal fat can constrict your stomach and contribute to reflux. The same thing happens in the later stages of pregnancy.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen can trigger GERD. There are other medications such as blood pressure drugs that can do the same thing.

If you want to reduce your symptoms of GERD, avoid snacking close to bedtime. Take a look at your lifestyle and make healthy changes.

The problem with GERD isn’t only the primary symptoms but the impact it can have on the small and large bowel.

As tempting as it is, I highly recommend that you don’t take anti-reflux medications. Instead, focus on eating smaller meals, avoid trigger foods, increase your activity, and reduce your stress. In many cases, making those changes will significantly reduce your GERD.

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Questions & Answers

What Is The Connection Between Leaky Gut And GERD?

After years of working with clients, I’ve noted a connection between leaky gut and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

I’ve had many clients who had GERD and were taking prescription medications and struggling with the symptoms.

Firstly, let’s review the importance of the small muscular sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach. This sphincter is referred to as the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES stops food from coming back out of the stomach.

The vast majority of patients I’ve seen get reflux disease for specific reasons.

The stomach is similar to a cement mixer. You’re putting carbs, proteins, fat, and water into your stomach. The stomach has to churn up this food, break it down, and produce sufficient digestive enzymes.

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Many people eat too quickly and don’t chew their food sufficiently. That’s not good for the stomach.

Your stomach produces a fluid called chyme. Chyme results from the chemical breakdown of food and consists of partially digested foods, water, hydrochloric acid, and several enzymes.

If you eat small meals and take the time eating and chew properly, your digestion will be much more efficient because you break down the food into very small particles. You’ll get fuller quicker.

I believe major triggers for GERD are eating too much food, the wrong kind of food, and eating too quickly.

Other triggers for GERD are lying down after a meal and being significantly overweight. Eating too much dietary fat and eating acidic foods can also contribute to GERD. Snacking close to bedtime can result in gastric reflux as you are trying to fall asleep.

GERD is annoying, and if it goes on for years, it can increase the risk of esophageal and stomach cancers. I had GERD when I was in my mid-twenties. Once I improved my lifestyle and eating habits, the GERD went 100% away.

Some of the foods that can be a particular trigger for GERD include garlic, onions, tomatoes, spicy foods, fatty foods, and alcohol. Smoking also increases the rate of GERD.

Pregnant women can get HERD as the fetus puts pressure on the stomach.

Medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can contribute to GERD. In my opinion, most cases of GERD can be cured by changing the habits that underpin the problem.

If you have GERD, ask yourself if you are eating the wrong foods at the wrong time. Are you eating in bed? Are you eating overly large portions? If you have GERD for a long time, it will start to impact your small and large bowel as well. You’ll notice that you’ll get more tired, more grumpy. You won’t sleep properly, and your appetite will act up.

Whatever you do, don’t jump onto using reflux medications for the rest of your life. These types of drugs can make things worse in the end. Instead, go the route of eating smaller portions of healthy foods. Work more on exercise and walking, eating correctly, and chewing properly.

Stop drinking alcohol and minimize the number of pharmaceutical medications you take. If you start making healthy changes, you’ll almost certainly notice an improvement in your GERD.

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